Fire-escape.



T QIWIQE.

CHARLES SCHEIDEN, Ol? DENVER, COLORADO.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

nordsee.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. 21, 1933.

Application led Apri1'24, 1912. Serial No. 692,791.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES ScHnrDn-N, a subject to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have inv-ented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire- Escapes; and I do decla-re the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of my invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing', and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in lire-escapes and has for its object the provision of a convenient and effective apparatus which may he readily and quickly placed in position to rescue occupants from a. burning building.

Another object of my invention resides in the construction and arrangement of the i different parts of my improved lire-escape for insuring their quick and positive operation.

rinother object of my invention resides in the provision of a fire-escape adapted to be normally supported in an in-operative position, whereby the necessity of a cumbersome structure on the building is obviated.

Another object of my improved fire-escape resid-es in the provision of means whereby the same may be shifted to different positions with respect to the side of the building.

Another object of my invention resides in the provision of an improved fire-escape constructed to be actuated under the influence of gravity to an operative position.

Another object of my ini-proved fire-escape resides in the provision of means for protecting the operative parts of the same from the injurious infiuen-ces of the weather.

lli/with these and other objects in view I will proceed to describe my invention with reference to the accompanyingdrawings forming a part hereof.

In these drawingsz-Fi-gure 1 is an elevation view with the roof of the lire-escape removed', sl'iowing'my improved tire-escape applied thereto and supported in an operative position. Fig. 2 is a plan view with roof removed. Fig. 3 isl an end view of the tire-escape.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in. all the views.

Let the numeral 6 designate a track its I entirety, adapted to be supported near the top ofL a building in an inclined position. This track consists of angle-bars 7, suitably spaced apart and supported by means of brackets '8 from horizontally disposed beams 9,.

At the upper extremity of the incline of the track 6, I journal a drum, designated in its entirety by the reference character 10, by means of a shaft 12, which connects the two angle-bars 7. The drum 10 is made fast to the shaft 12 and around this drum an endless chain 13 is adapted to be wound, see Fig. l, when the fire-escape is in the in-operative position.

I provide a truck, designated in its entirety by the reference character 14, which I mount upon the trackl 6. This truck consists of a frame 15, having rollers 16 on opposite sides thereof, near each extremity of the frame and which rollers are adapted to. travel upon the horizontally disposed parts 18 of the angle-bars 7. The opposite Yisides of the frame 15, of the truck l-i, are

also provided with rollers 19, which engage the sides of the angle-bars 7 for the purpose of relieving friction during the traveling of the truck lt upon the track G. In the frame 14s,. I ournal a pulley 2O over which the endless chain 13 passes. This pulley is provided with notches 21, which receive the extremity of the links of the chain 13, whereby the chain 13 is prevented from moving upon the pulley 2O independently of the latter.

I provide brake mechanism for controlling the movement of the chain 13. This brake mechanism consists of a brake wheel 21a, fixed-ly secured to the shaft 22, of the pulley 20, adjacent the latter and inclosed by the opposite sides of the frame 15, of the truck 1l. Around this brake wheel 21, I arrange a ban-d brake 23 consistins)` of two parts hinged together as shown at 24;, while the opposite extremities of these two parts are connected together by means of a link 25 pivotally connected with the extremity of one of sai-d partsv and with a lever arm 26, which lever arm is pivotally secured to the extremity of the other part of the brake band 23 as shown at 27. To the extremity of the lever arm 26, I connect a cable or flexible device 28, which flexible device is normally wound around a drum 29, secured to the shaft 12 of the drum 10, when the fire-escape is in the irl-operative position as represented in Fig, 1..

For controlling the movement of the drum 107 during the unwinding of the chain 13 therefrom, I provide a brake mechanism consisting of a brake wheel secured to the shaft 12, of the drum 10 and upon which a brake band, corresponding in every respect to the brak-e band 23, described above, may be mounted. To this brake band 36, I connect a lever arm 31, which forms a part of the brake for controlling the movement of the drum 10. To this lever arm I connect a flexible device or cable 32, which passes downwardly through a pipe 33, to a position near the bottom of the building, whereby the movement of the drum 10, during its operation of unwinding the chain 13, may be controlled from the ground. The upper extremity of this pipe 33, is offset from the building, as shown at 34, so that the upper extremity of the same may be brought to a position corresponding with the position in which the cable 32 is supported, by means of a lever arm 31. By virtue of this arrangement the necessity of passing the cable into the pipe 33 at an angle, is obviated and as a result the friction of the cable on the y extremity of the pipe 33 is obviated. The

lower' extremity of the cable 32 must be normally drawn downwardly in order to set the brake band 3G on the brake wheel 3()` to prevent the drum 10 from turning and unwinding the chain 13 therefrom. In other words.l when the cable is drawn downwardly the brake 36 is caused to engage the brake wheel 30. For holding this cable 32 in the downward drawn position, I may use a winch or similar device around which the cable may be wound and the winch locked in position against turning until such time as it is desired to release the brake to permit the drum 1() to revolve. The drum 1() consists of a cylindrical member 35, the opposite extremities of which are provided with disks 36 which are larger in circumference or diameter than the member 35. To these disk members 36, I secure ,radially arranged spokes 37, by means of boltsv 38. In order to prevent lateral movement of the drum 10 and the brake wieel 30 into engagement with the opposite channel bars 7, of the track 6, I form upon the shaft 12, collars 38.

Now assuming that it is desired to place the fire-escape in an operative position; the cable 32 is released, which in turn releases the brake band 36 whereby the drum 10 is caused to revolve under the influence of the weight of the chain 13, and to unwind the said chain therefrom to permit the latter to occupy the depending or vertical position represented in Fig. 3. AArs the chain 13 is unwound from the drum 10, the cable 28 is also unwound from the drum 29, since this drum turns in unison withy the drum 10, the two being made fast to the same shaft After the chain 13 and the cable 28 have been in this manner unwound and are permitted to fall to the vertical or depending positions, the chain 13 is supported entirely by the pulley 20, which is journaled upon the truck 14. Now by pulling upon a cable 39, which is connected with one extremity of the truck 14, the truck may be moved to any position along th-e side of the building and as a result, the chain 13 will be carried therewith to a position adjacent any par- `icular window or windows of the building, whereupon occupants of the building may readily escape from the windows to the chain 13 and the endless movement of this chain around the pull-ey 20 will result in carrying the person to the ground. Y

' Attention is here called to the fact that the chain 13 is of ladder form, see Fig'. 3, and that the rungs 40, of this ladder chain enter the notches 21 in the pulley 20 for preventing movement of the ladder chain upon the said pulley independent. of the latter. The chain 13 causes the pulley 20 to revolve under the influence of the weight of the persons who are upon one side of the endless chain, and of course, this weight will cause the side of the chain to move downwardly too rapidly and in order to slacken this speed, the brake band 23 may beapplied to the brake wheel 21, by drawing downwardly upon the Flexible device 28.

Attention is here called to the fact that the brake band 23 is secured to the truck frame 14 by means of a pin 24. This pin 24 also forming the pivot for the two members or two parts of the brake band 23.

By virtue of the incline track 6, the truck 14 will move down this track under the influence of gravity whenever the cable 39 is slackened, but in order to move the truck up the incline of the track, it is necessary to draw the same up by means of the cable 39. Ihe truck 14 may be stopped at any desired location, so that the chain 14 will be adjacent any particular window or vertical line of windows and maybe held in such position until the occupants of the rooms, adjacent the windows of which the chain is arranged, have been removed, and then the truck may be moved to any other position adjacent any particular window or windows for removing other occupants from t-he building.

Now assuming that it is desired to again place the lire-escape in an in-operative position, a cable or other suitable device may be connected at one extremity with the lower extremity of the endless chain 13, while the other extremity of the cable may be secured to the drum 10 and then by manually turning the drum 10, the chain 13 will be drawn upwardly and wound around the drum 10. During this same operation, the cable 28 cont-rolling the brakeV of the chainpulley 20 may also be carried upwardly with the chain 13 and connected with vits respective drum 29. Whereby the said cable will be wound around the drum simulta* neously with the winding of the chain 13 around its drum 10. The lower extremity of the cable 28 may be tied or connected in any other suitable manner with the chain 13, as shown at 41, whereby the said cable 28 may be carried upwardly with the chain 13.

An important feature ofmy invention resides in the provision of means for protecting all of the different parts of the `fireescape against the injurious influences of snow, ice and other foreign substances. To accomplish this purpose, I arrange a roof 42 above the track 6. This roof 42 extends the entire length ef the track 6 and forms a housing for the truck 111 and the drum 10. In fact, this roof 12, serves as a protection or housing for all of the operating parts of the fire-escape when the latter is in the inoperative position. In order to hold the person on the endless chain 13, a strap having a hook at each end may be passed around the body of the person and hooked on to the said chain. Therefore it will be practically impossible for a person thus fastened to the chain to fall off of the same.

While I have described and illustrated herein a specific form of my invention, it is understood that the same may be modiiied and varied without departing from the spirit of my invention and the domain of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A fire-escape comprising an inclined track, a truck mounted to travel on said track, a pulley carried by the said truck, an endless chain mounted on said pulley, and

a drum journaled at one end of the said track and around which the endless chain is adapted to be wound for supporting the latter in an in-operative position.

2. A lire-escape comprising an inclined track, a truck mounted to travel on said track, a pulley journaled upon said truck, an endless chain mounted on said pulley, a drum journaled on one end of said track and around which the endless chain is adapted to be wound when the fire-escape is in an in-operative position, means for releasing the said drum to permit the chain to be unwound therefrom and to assume a depending position from the pulley of the truck, and means for moving said truck on the said track up the incline of the latter, substantially as described.

3. A tire-escape comprising an inclined track, a drum journaled at one extremity of said track, a truck mounted to travel on said track, a pulley carried by said truck, an endless chain mounted on said pulley, the said chain being adapted to be wound around the said drum when the fire-escape is in an in-operative position, means eonnected in operative relation with the said drum for preventing the latter from revolving to unwind the chain therefrom, and which when released will allow the chain to unwind from the said drum and assume the depending position supported by the said pulley, and means connected with the said pulley for causing the latter to travel on the said track up the incline of the latter, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afhX my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES SCI-IEIDEN.

Witnesses:

FELIX THms,

J. M. G. POWELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

